The citizens of the Harry Potter universe had good reason to refer to Voldemort as "He Who Must Not be Named": apparently, no one can pronounce his name correctly. Author J.K. Rowling confirmed that the book-reading, movie-going public has been pronouncing the Dark Lord's name wrong all this time.
The first book in the "Harry Potter" series came out in 1997, so Rowling could have given us a heads up a bit sooner. According to her, the T at the end of his name is silent. Correct pronunciation would be "Voldemore."
Rowling revealed this illuminating tidbit while answering some Harry Potter trivia on Twitter. She did, however, admit that she is likely the only one who pronounces the evil one's name that way.
As some of you might know, Rowling puts a lot of thought into her character names. For instance, Draco Malfoy's name is a direct reference to Draconian, meaning "unusually severe or cruel," while the root of Malfoy is "mal," meaning bad or evil. Remus Lupin is easily connected to wolf. Minerva McGonagall takes her first name from the Roman goddess of wisdom.
So where does Voldemort come from?
@Universe_Box One piece of Harry Potter trivia I always forget to mention: the "t" is silent in Voldemort, according to @jk_rowling.
— Michael Lucero (@mhenrylucero) September 9, 2015
... but I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who pronounces it that way. https://t.co/HxhJ5XY5HP — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 9, 2015
"Mort" (silent T) in French means "death" so...that's perfectly fitting.
Have fun continuing on with your everyday life knowing you've been screwing up Voldemort's name all this time.
